DIY – Page 12 – Dust Bunnies and Dog Toys

Constructing A Massive Storage Shed

Published on November 3, 2014November 7, 2014 by JennaLeave a comment

Even though we have a three car garage in our new home there still isn’t enough room to park our two daily driver trucks, my classic truck and our side-by-side and still fit all the things that tend to end up stored in the garage. To solve this problem the hubs decided to build a shed. But this isn’t just any lil ‘ol shed. It’s a mega shed. Seriously. It’s 11′ wide by 20’ deep! But it has to be pretty big to house the lawn mower, yard tools, our side-by-side and various other odds & ends.

I don’t have much of the step-by-step info since he’s been doing the construction solo while I’m busy crafting, cleaning and editing photos but hopefully these pictures give you a good idea of the basic framing and set up. He started with freebie I-beams that were headed for the dumpster at a job site to lay out the base of the shed. Because the location of the shed was a bit uneven, he used cinder blocks we had on hand under the subframe on one side to make everything level.

The I-beams were topped with a layer of plywood and OSB so the floor of the shed has a solid surface and additional strength. Next he framed up the walls, figuring out the angles needed to create the pitched roof line. The side walls were made in two panels.

Once those were ready I helped raise the walls and held them in place while he nailed them in. That’s when you start to get a sense of just how big this thing will be.

The side closet to the house will be taller than the far side, which should help reduce snow build up during the winter and eliminate any water build up during the rest of the year.

He’s now moved on to framing the roof and adding the clear panels which will let in natural light. Both sides of the roof have a bit of overhang, which should help keep water away from the base of the shed.

That’s the progress thus far. He’s hoping to get it finished and filled before winter hits, but we’ve already had one snow (as seen in the first pictures) so who knows how long that will be. I’ll post another update once we have some more progress to show, so stay tuned!

He’s added supports between the rafters for additional strength. After the first few rows he had the ingenious idea to use left over pieces of the I-beams to save the more costly wood for other areas.

A New & Improved Doggy Door

Published on October 29, 2014October 26, 2014 by Jenna2 Comments

When we first moved in we installed the sliding door doggie door insert we’d used while in Kodiak. It worked fine, but we could never seem to get it seal well against the slider door sine it was shorter than the door opening and it reduced the width opening to the deck considerably, which was a pain when the hubs was going in and out to grill on the deck. So we decided to install a new door in the wall.

The hubs picked out a double flap model to improve energy efficiency. I’m hopeful that it will keep the outdoor debris at bay a bit more as well. Because it sits a little higher, we don’t have an issue with water seeping in when it rains like we did with the old door, which should also be handy when it starts to snow.

We originally planned to hire a handy man to do this installation, but the hubs’ co-worker convinced him that he could do it, so I dug out the pictures I’d taken of the wall during construction to make sure we knew what he’d encounter inside the wall (I’m so glad I documented every step for this exact reason!).

We knew there was electrical wiring to deal with because of the outlet and light switch nearby, but the pictures showed us where the wire ran so he made sure to watch for them and then just tucked the wire to the side of the opening once he had the hole cut as you can see below.

Thankfully I wasn’t around for most of the install process due to a photography session, so I missed out on the messy “in-between” stages, although I’m sure they looked similar to the scene above. The hubs did say he reframed a bit around the new opening since he had to cut the stud that was in the middle of the opening and he added spray foam insulation behind the interior panels that make up the portion within the width of the wall.

We’ve had a couple of windy days since it was installed and it seems to do better at staying closed than the slider insert door did, so I’m very happy about that. And because there are two flaps, even if one doesn’t catch all the way the other keeps the opening closed for efficiency. The hubs still plans to add a bead of clear silicone around the entire opening on both sides, but overall it seems much more weather tight than the old door was.

We did have to relocate the dog’s water bowl since this is exactly where it was before the install. For now we’ve just moved it down the wall a bit, but I have plans to incorporate it into raised feeders for all three of them very soon. It took everyone a bit to get used to the new door. Both Bacardi and Stoli kept going to the slider door and pawing at first, but after a few times they’ve got it figured out. And even Luna has adapted, although it did take a gentle push through the first time. 🙂

Our Massive DIY Desk – Part I

Published on October 16, 2014October 19, 2014 by Jenna9 Comments

From the moment we signed the contract to build our home I envisioned a massive wall-to-wall desk in my office/studio, with enough room for both the hubs and I to have workspace. But that wasn’t a high priority project, so the DIY desk we fashioned from a freebie door and two filing cabinets while in the rental was serving the same purpose at the new house. It was certainly functional, but definitely not anything amazing.

After moving into the house we’d purchased a few other filing cabinets to serve as the bases for the rest of the desk, but they sat collecting dust in the garage for months. Then, a few weeks ago the hubs decided it was time to ~~make room in the garage~~ get this project rolling and purchased wood for the desktop. He brought in the other two filing cabinets and then lined up the wood planks to form the top.

At some point we took the top drawer out of one cabinet and Luna decided that was the perfect hiding spot, at least until she realized it was right at doggy viewing height! Tequila was very concerned that her kitty was trapped in the cabinet. 🙂

The hubs had prepped the boards with small biscuits to create joints between the planks. He also predrilled counter-sunk screws down the length of the boards. The combination of the biscuit joints and the screws make the entire top a sturdy and solid piece.

Here’s the new set up! As you can see the desktop doesn’t go all the way to the wall on the near end, but that leaves room to install the sliding barn doors in the future which will allow me to close off the studio for clients when needed.

We still need to add molding around the bottom of the two new cabinets, add a pull-out shelf to the middle cabinet for the printer to sit on, paint all the cabinets white, stain the top and then install shelves above the desk for storage, but for now it’s just nice to have a little extra room for us both to work. I’ve since found a new chair to replace the camp chair on the hub’s side, thanks to a great deal at Target. Watch for a post on that soon!

Slinky + Embroidery Hoop = Peanut Squirrel Feeder!

Published on September 26, 2014September 25, 2014 by Jenna4 Comments

When we first put the bird feeder out we had a kamikaze squirrel who took up residence on the branch it hung from and kept up a constant chatter to proclaim his turf. Of course he only wanted the sunflower seeds and would knock everything else out of the way to get to them, thus most of my bird seed mix ended up on the ground wasted.

I quite enjoyed watching his aerobatic endeavors and didn’t want to shoo him off, so I decided to make a feeder just for him. I’d seen metal hoop peanut feeders for WAY too much so I scouted Pinterest until I found a DIY version using a slinky, which I just happened to have thanks to the $1 zone at Target. I picked up a small plastic embroidery hoop at Michaels for few buck with a 40% off coupon and paired the two together with a key ring to keep the two ends connected. It was that simple.

Although she didn’t offer any assistance or guidance, Luna supervised my work and gave it a good inspection before it was filled.

Since I used a small slinky and hoop, I only needed about a half bag of peanuts to fill it completely.

Now that the fence was mostly done I added my plant hooks and hung the feeders from the raised posts. This gives Luna the perfect vantage point to supervise who visits each feeder.

And safely watch what her siblings are doing without being in their midst! It is pretty funny watching her get to this lookout though – since she can only jump high enough to get her claws in the top board. After that she gets an ab workout hauling herself up.

I’m sure these hooks were intended to be used with the flat side as the top, but it felt more secure to have the hook curl over rather than under. And I’m pretty sure that the birds and other critters partaking in the buffet won’t give two hoots which way they sit.I haven’t seen squirrely squirrel back since I put the feeder out and no one else seems to appreciate my handiwork just yet, but I’ll leave it out because soon their food sources will grow scarce and they’ll be on the hunt for yummy things to stash away for those cold winter days. 🙂

Milk Can Side Table

Published on September 3, 2014August 26, 2015 by Jenna1 Comment

This little project has been in the making for some time now. I picked up the milk can on the local buy/sell page. At $50 it was pretty pricey but they are hard to come by and this was the real deal, solid metal in good condition. I needed something sturdy that would stand up to the elements on the front porch.

I wasn’t loving the original red color so I dug through our paint cabinet and found two grey spray paints I could use. The first was a dull grey primer and the other a brilliant metallic finish. I randomly layered them so they would mix well and play off each other. Here was the end result.

I hunted high and low for an unfinished wood table top to complete this project to no avail. I even looked when I was down south on our trip. Amazingly, I finally found one at Lowes for about $13.I found a can of stain in the paint cabinet and gave each side a coat. Then the hubs and I took turns applying coats of poly – also from our paint cabinet – to both sides until we were happy with the color and finish.

I planned to screw the top on through the lid of the milk can, but the hubs suggested liquid nails which we had on hand. A couple dollups and a good hard press and it was done.

It looks just how I envisioned it would, the perfect unique and rustic side table for less than $65. Just wait till you see what it will accompany on my porch!

Shared at Knick of Time’s Vintage Inspiration Party #203!

Rustic Laundry Room Sign

Published on September 2, 2014September 2, 2014 by Jenna2 Comments

I tackled several projects over the long holiday weekend and this is one of my favorites. When we thought we were being transferred to Florida a few years ago I purchased a couple Uppercase Living vinyl phrases for the house we contracted to rent. But plans changed and we didn’t transfer and the fancy phrases got tucked away for future use. Now that we’re in our own home I’ve been deciding how to use them and knew that the laundry room phrase I had would make a perfect sign for the top of the cabinets in that space.

I found a scrap piece of wood left over from when the hubs took apart the old dog beds. It was destined to be used for this sign because it was the perfect size without any further prep.

I painted the perimeter of the board gray since I wanted to rough up the edges and have some color come through. Then I gave the whole thing a couple coats of white.

Next I randomly sanded the edges until I was happy with the look of the texture. I was pretty pleased with how the grey peeked through.

Then came the hard part of prepping the vinyl and making sure I applied it centered and straight! It took a few attempts, but I finally got it right.

The hubs helped me add a little more sanding around the lettering and gave the words themselves a light sanding for texture.

I climbed up on the washer and dryer to reach the cabinet top, where I used some shims and a small easel to make it stand just the way I wanted. It ties in with the other fun signs in this room and it fits the space perfectly. Another project done and I couldn’t be happier with the result!

Next up for this room is a fold down drying rack and a cabinet for the laundry sink, but those are both projects for the coming months when Alaska’s winter weather traps us indoors.

At Last!

Published on August 19, 2014August 18, 2014 by JennaLeave a comment

Remember forever ago when I told you about our plan to install a rain garden? Well it’s finally done! After months of delays waiting for the ground to thaw, our lot to be graded and uncooperative work schedules we put in the last of the plants and mulch this past weekend. Here’s a recap of the process from the beginning.

The free tires we had delivered while the house was still under construction last fall were already covered over with snow when we moved in back in December, so they remained where they had been dropped until spring. Luna enjoyed them as a lookout spot during this time.

Once the ground thawed, I arranged them into a semi-circle shape to act as the retaining wall at the back of the garden. We placed large rocks from around the property into the center of tires to keep the wall from shifting.

As the garden started to take shape, I quickly realized that using individual bags of soil and compost I’d purchased wasn’t going to be efficient, so I decided to order a delivery of top soil mix. Unfortunately, I had to wait for the builder to do our final grade, which was rescheduled several times and finally happened a few days before our road trip. This provided the required ‘dip’ to the area between the driveway and the garden so that water runoff will be directed toward the garden and pool there to be absorbed.

The top soil was delivered soon after we returned home, but conflicting schedules didn’t allow me to get back to the garden until several weeks later, when the hubs and I mixed in the sand and compost before spreading everything out to fill the space. There were a few spots where the tires didn’t line up just right, so we filled those with large rocks to keep the dirt and subsequent water from escaping.

Bacardi and her siblings ‘helped’ throughout this process…

We decided this was an appropriate opportunity to spread Sangria’s ashes, so we scattered her throughout the soil before planting. I also gathered a variety of rocks to create stone cairns in memory of other special pets either of us had lost. In addition to one for Sangria there is one for the hub’s dog Kenai, our previous cat Kitty Meow and my goats Daisy, Rosy and Quincy.

Next I laid out all the plants I’d purchased and collected over the last few months to decide what should go where. Once I was happy with the arrangement I set to planting, filling in the empty areas with spring bulbs. I had also purchased mulch to top the garden, but ran out and couldn’t find more of the same kind so late in the season.

Another few weeks passed and I found cedar mulch at the hardware store, so I purchased enough to finish the empty spaces and sprinkle over top of the other mulch so they’d blend together. Most of the annuals I’d planted had already died off, so I replaced them with perennials I’d purchased at a Master Gardener plant sale. I also added a clemantis on either side of the garden against the retaining wall so it will attach to the tires and cover them as it grows. Then I planted Aleutian Speedwell along the front edge of the garden. In time it should spread and act as a ground cover for the slope into the garden – part of my agreement with the hubs that the backyard will be the only landscaping that requires mowing.

As I planted, the hubs and kiddos watched from the lawn mower parked nearby. We rescued both the mower and that cool trailer attached to it from someone who planned to take it to the landfill! Both needed a little work, but it’s been super handy to have them for projects around the yard.

Once I was finished, the hubs loaded the dogs up in the utility trailer and drove them back up to the house so I could get some kiddo free shots of the finished garden. We placed our bargain bench off to the side so there’s a spot to sit and reminisce next to what I’m now calling our Memorial Rain Garden. Eventually I’ll create a paver pad for the bench along with a pathway down the hillside to it, since I plan to fill the rest of the area around the garden with local ground covers that will spread.

Here’s the view from the house, where you can see how it is situated in the low spot to collect the run off from the driveway.

And I’m happy to see that we’ve had an increase in “good insects” like this butterfly since we’ve started planting!

Ready for a Siesta

Published on August 6, 2014August 4, 2014 by JennaLeave a comment

A while back I shared a little about the dog bed that the hubs had built and I’d ‘fluffed’ along with our plans to build a few more for other spots around the house. That plan changed a bit when we found a couple of pretty nice dog beds with removable covers during our recent trip to Portland. Removable covers are a huge benefit for me, since I’m actually allergic to both our dogs and cat, but refuse to give up family members for a few sniffles and a headache or two. That means that I need to wash their bedding – and all the other household linens – every week.

I spotted this large bed at Home Goods for $30 and knew it would work well in the spot where the bed we’d made was in the family room. At first I thought about just using it inside the frame, but it bothered me that the frame covered part of the return vent behind the bed, so I decided to try out the bed on its own without the frame. Not only did I like how it looked and fit below the vent, but the dogs took to it right away. Win #1.

I also found this round bed at Home Goods for $25 and knew it would work perfectly in the corner of our bedroom. It wasn’t quite as cushy as the other Home Goods find, but I figure we can add to the padding later on if needed. It’s the perfect size for this spot, allowing the hubs room to still move around the bed on his side, but large enough that two dogs can snuggle together on it. Plus it replaced a non-removable cover donut bed that harbored dust and hair. Win #2.

Just before we left Portland, we found this bed at CostCo for something like $30. I envisioned it taking the place of the non- removable cover donut bed that was behind the chair in the family room. The replacement fit just right and has become a favorite spot for all the dogs since it provides a good vantage point of what’s going on in the main area of the house. Win #3.

We tried moving the bed frame we built into our bedroom, but it didn’t fit well in either spot we had left, so I decided I’d check the CostCos here and see if I could find some more of the round bed we’d placed in the family room.

The first CostCo didn’t have any of the round beds, but they did have this memory foam bed for about $40 that I was sure would fit the corner of the bedroom by the bathroom. It did, and adding the body pillow from the previous built bed on the back against the wall made it look like a little sofa. This seems to be Stoli’s favorite spot since he can snuggle into the back while still stretching out. Win #4.

The other CostCo in town did have the round beds, albeit for a bit more than we paid in Portland – but we’re used to that here in Alaska. We picked out a different pattern that fit better with our bedroom colors and placed it in the corner on my side of the bed. It fits just right and like it’s cousin in the family room it’s enjoyed by all three dogs at different times. Win #5.

If you’re keep count, that’s about $170 in dog beds. It sounds pricey, but considering we would have spent more than that for materials plus our super valuable time if we’d built beds for each spot it actually ends up costing less. I was also able to sell the pads we bought for the bed frames and the old donut beds so that brought the total down to around $100 for all five. The fancy pillows I had made will be used elsewhere and that nice wood frame has since become part of the top that will be used for our office desk built in, so it didn’t go to waste either.

The pups are happy, momma’s happy and dad’s happy he doesn’t have to build another few projects. Sounds like a win-win-win to me!

Knock-Off Designer Garden Art

Published on July 29, 2014July 28, 2014 by Jenna1 Comment

While touring my Mother-in-law’s neighborhood on our recent trip I spotted a beautiful craftsman style home that I adore. In addition to beautiful timber columns on the porch they had a large rustic metal sphere in their landscape that I fell in love with even though I it was likely a designer piece that was light years outside my budget.

I thought about that metal sphere on the drive home and decided to look for a way to DIY my own. I’d seen several similar projects for light fixtures so I knew it was doable. I just had to find a material that could stand up to the elements.

I pinned a couple of ideas, but put the project on hold since I had several others already in the works. Then I happened to spot these beauties on a Target clearance rack! They weren’t the color I wanted, but I knew a coat of spray paint could fix that. I got all three for about $21. I all but danced out of the store!

They lived as is in the flower bed for a while since I was busy with those other projects I mentioned, but when I started spray painting my cache pot from yesterday’s post I decided to knock these out as well.

I love the copper color on the small one, but because it was a metal flake paint it was a little difficult to work with and required several small coats to get all the angles. The ORB color on the other two is a dead ringer for the original designer inspiration and only took two coats. The third sphere has found a home in the new rain garden, which isn’t finished just yet. A few more steps and I’ll be ready to share that project too! 🙂

Cache Update

Published on July 28, 2014 by JennaLeave a comment

Remember the pretty little cache pot I created a while back? Well it had a little defect. You see the lid fit so snugly that when you went to remove it you had to hold the pot itself to pry it open. And when it did open the motion created caused the contents already inside to move. Sometime so much that they escaped – onto the person opening it. That’s why my pretty copper canister became cabinet top décor and a replacement was found.

Shortly after we moved to the mainland I purchased this ice bucket at JoAnns on clearance for something like $5. And then I never used it.

Since my inspiration to DIY a cache pot in the first place came from an ice bucket I decided to give it a try and set it out on the counter for a test run. It was easy to open – just lift the lid. It was easy to clean – just pull out the insert dump and put in the dishwasher. And it was the perfect size. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the perfect color. But that’s nothing a coat of spray paint can’t fix.

A few coats of spray later and wha-la, I have a new cache pot! Plus because I already had the bucket and the spray paint it didn’t cost me a dime! I’m still not crazy about the stars, so I might rig something to cover those, but for a totally free project I’m not gonna complain.